ESSENTIAL PREVENTION TIPS
PATH TO SAFETY
Before taking any medicine especially a new one, always talk to your doctor or a pharmacist. Then they can simply tell you about the medicine and its possible risk of drug-food interactions. Here are more important tips listed below:
Read the prescription label on the container. If you feel difficulty understanding something, ask your doctor or pharmacist.
Read and understand all directions, warnings, and interaction precautions. Even pay attention to over-the-counter medicines which can synergistically cause side effects.
Take all medicine with a clean and full glass of water to minimise the risk, unless your doctor tells you otherwise.
Do not take capsules apart or mix medicine into your food, unless your doctor tells you to. This can change the way the drug works.
Do not stir medicine into hot drinks. Heat may keep the drug active.
Do not take other medicine at the same time you take vitamins or minerals.
Do not take medicine with alcohol no matter what.
THINGS TO CONSIDER
Taking a new medicine can be really hard if there is a risk for interactions. To reduce and understand those risks, try to create a routine for taking one of your medicines. Things that may help you are:
keeping a calendar for what day and time you take each one
setting a reminder to take each one in a routine manner.
using a pillbox to organise your medicines.
WHEN TO SEE THE DOCTOR
You may need to ask to your doctor or Contact your doctor or pharmacist if:
you have any questions about the medicine you take and its risk for food-drug interactions.
you think you feel particular side effects when taking medicine
you don’t feel well or start feeling worse after taking a new medicine.
QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR DOCTOR
You might struggled to ask a question to your doctor even if you know about the food-drug interactions. So here is template questions we recommend you to ask as questions:
Are there any other foods or medicines I should avoid?
Are there any interactions can be caused by my medicine?
Are there any other interactions I need to be concerned about?
Do I need to avoid certain foods with my medicine?
What kind of action should I take if I ate certain foods with my medicine?
Is there a certain time of day I should take my medicine?